'4 Pinocchios' to Obama's 'act of terrorism'

5/14/13 12:14 PM EDT

Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post's 'Fact Checker,' revisits President Obama's claim that he called the attack in Benghazi "an act of terror" the day after it happened -- and gives it four pinocchios:

During the campaign, the president could just get away with claiming he said “act of terror,” since he did use those words — though not in the way he often claimed. It seemed like a bit of after-the-fact spin, but those were his actual words — to the surprise of Mitt Romney in the debate.

But the president’s claim that he said “act of terrorism” is taking revisionist history too far, given that he repeatedly refused to commit to that phrase when asked directly by reporters in the weeks after the attack. He appears to have gone out of his way to avoid saying it was a terrorist attack, so he has little standing to make that claim now.

Indeed, the initial unedited talking points did not call it an act of terrorism. Instead of pretending the right words were uttered, it would be far better to acknowledge that he was echoing what the intelligence community believed at the time--and that the administration’s phrasing could have been clearer and more forthright from the start.

This will no doubt serve as fodder for a larger conservative talking point. In the days and weeks ahead, look for Obama's critics to argue (again) that the President skated by in 2012 only because he didn't get enough scrutiny from the mainstream media. Kessler's fact check is welcome news, they'll say, but it comes about seven months too late.